Z Height Limit

[GarySeibs]

Not sure if this is hardware or software and if anyone has any insight I would appreciate it. I posted this in the hardware section too but thought I might get more traffic here.

I've got a Techno-Isel 4896 in my high school shop that I've been using since 2005. I know that it's getting a bit long in the tooth but the machine is still great (that and I don't have $30K+ to replace it). It's a stand alone station in my school shop and is run by a PC that I only use to run the machine; all design and toolpaths are done on other computers and we migrate toolpaths to the machine with thumb drives. In short, I got my school to be a pretty early adopter and I've been using this one since it was new so the process is good and works for us.

In September my PC gave it up and I was able to re-purpose another one to run the TI Router (which I've done before) but since then it's been raising to the Z limit and stopping when it finished the part. On my machine this stops everything and you have several clicks to restore controls. It's been driving me up a wall and I can't find the setting to correct it.

My software is set up as usual: we use inches, Rapid Z Gaps set at .2, home position gap set to a Z of .5. I've been using these settings for a number of years without an issue. I've poured through the interface settings as well and I'm stumped.

Any help or insight would be greatly appreciated.

Gary

[Adrian]

Which post processor are you using? Does your control software have a Home z setting that it goes to at the end of a file?

[GarySeibs]

I'm using the same one I've used for a long time...Techno-Isel Arc ATC (inch). I don't have an ATC but it has always worked.

My setting is to return to Start Position...where ever the machine was and I've dug into this but can't quite sort out the error. It runs the part and then when router stops instead of returning to start position it just keeps raising until it hits the vertical limits and shuts down.

[adze_cnc]

Duplicate post. Some suggestions provided here.

[martin54]

You say that you have changed computers so from that I assume you have had to reinstall all the software that came with the machine. Have you had a good look at the CNC control software & the settings within that? It may be that this has absolutely nothing to do with the post-processor that you are using or the gcode created by Vectric software

[GarySeibs]

Yes, I have many times but there are no guarantees I haven't missed something! Through a little bit of help it's appearing likely that if I can figure out how, I need to edit my post-processor just a tiny bit but that's another adventure I'm not sure how to tackle but that's another post

[martin54]

Yes, I have many times but there are no guarantees I haven't missed something! Through a little bit of help it's appearing likely that if I can figure out how, I need to edit my post-processor just a tiny bit but that's another adventure I'm not sure how to tackle but that's another post

The thing is that if you are using the same post-processor you used previously & the only change is that you have replaced the CNC control computer then the problem is likely to be with the control software for the CNC & not the post-processor that you are using

[GarySeibs]

Yes, I have many times but there are no guarantees I haven't missed something! Through a little bit of help it's appearing likely that if I can figure out how, I need to edit my post-processor just a tiny bit but that's another adventure I'm not sure how to tackle but that's another post

The thing is that if you are using the same post-processor you used previously & the only change is that you have replaced the CNC control computer then the problem is likely to be with the control software for the CNC & not the post-processor that you are using

Yes and that's what has me stumped. Two things changed about the same time...I had to replace the PC driving my router and I updated Aspire to 11.5! I have discovered what others are telling me is the offending line in the PP I use but I've never had to edit a PP before. All my settings are the same as they were before but now I have a crash with the limits when the part is finished now.

[Adrian]

Not convinced that is the issue to be honest. The code you posted in the other thread shows that the post processor is working as it should and what your machine is doing isn't caused by the code being written by Aspire.

I would still be checking the control software settings.

[wb9tpg]

Do you have any of your old gcode files (possibly on thumb drive or the CNC)? If so, can you post one so we can see what it was doing?

[GarySeibs]

Not convinced that is the issue to be honest. The code you posted in the other thread shows that the post processor is working as it should and what your machine is doing isn't caused by the code being written by Aspire.

I would still be checking the control software settings.

I'm in agreement with you on this and this is where I've focused my attention. I've never had to do any code or PP editing and I'm hesitant to do that now.

1. I have no expertise in this area and my philosophy is always if you don't know what you're doing, you shouldn't do it.

2. I'm not 100% certain any editing will solve the problem and not cause more problems that I don't know how to undo.

[Mark Jones]

I was curious to know what you found out about this issue. I have edited the post processor files several times for various reasons.

Did you get a resolution to this issue?

[RickW3DS]

Don't mess with your pp's unless you know exactly what you are doing!

[Mark Jones]

Guide to editing a Vectric Post Processor is pretty straightforward. It's not magic. It is simply a text file with a bunch of options. Simply start with a good file and back it up and edit the text. The Vectric guide is good and it has a lot of examples.